If you’re thinking about becoming a student at Grace College, or you’re a member of the 2017 Freshman Class at Grace, we hope to answer many of your questions as you prepare for your first year of college.

Welcome to Grace College!

At Grace, we provide a comprehensive program to assist first-year students in their adjustment to college life. It is our hope that Grace will become a fast second home for you and that you’ll feel supported as you discover and pursue God's calling for your life. The central components of the first-year program are Welcome Weekend (orientation) and Freshman Foundations (FYE 1010). Throughout orientation and the course, freshmen meet in breakout groups of 15 to 20 students led by a Faculty Mentor and a Student Mentor (an upperclass student). These groups are designed to give first-year students the kind of support needed to adapt to college life. In order to be prepared for the Freshman Foundations course before orientation, read the Summer Reading Book.

Welcome Weekend

"Welcome Weekend" will be Saturday, August 19, 2017, through Sunday, August 20, 2017. Welcome Weekend is the time when Grace welcomes new students to campus and introduces them and their parents to the Grace campus family.

Other Information

The Campus Store, Business, Registrar and Financial Aid Offices are all open during Welcome Weekend to assist new students.

Meetings and other events are scheduled throughout the weekend to help new freshmen and transfer students learn about the Grace campus and community and to become familiar with expectations and the campus environment.

In addition, programs are provided during the weekend to help parents learn about the campus community, educational philosophy, and academic commitment of the college and its faculty and administration. New freshmen and transfer students are required to attend the events specified for them on the schedule.

Each parent will be given two complimentary meal passes for the weekend, which can be picked up at Welcome Weekend Registration. Additional meal passes for other family members can be purchased at the entrance of Alpha Dining Commons.

You will be given a final schedule of Welcome Weekend Events upon arrival.

Lodging

For more information about Welcome Weekend, call the Grace College Student Affairs Office at 1-800-544-7223, ext. 6466.

Freshman Foundations

This course will help students discover their God-given strengths, navigate through current college issues, and help the student better understand what makes a Christian liberal arts education valuable. It will also introduce students to the value off-campus involvement and introduce students to prospective departments and faculty within the institution, assisting in the selection process of choosing a major and a career. This course is designed to make all students’ time at Grace the best experience possible.

Principle Faculty:

Jacqueline Schram

Aaron Crabtree

Freshman Read

Love Kindness

Kindness is not what we have been taught it is. It isn’t a soft virtue, expressed only by sweet grandmothers or nice Boy Scouts. Kindness is neither timid nor frail. Instead, it is brave and daring, willing to be vulnerable with those with whom we disagree. It is the revolutionary way that Jesus himself called us to live. The way of selfless risks. The way of staggering hope. The way of authenticity.

Dr. Barry Corey, president of Biola University, believes we tend to devalue the importance of kindness, opting instead for caustic expressions of certainty that push people away. We forget that the essence of what God requires of us is to “love kindness.” In this book, filled with stories from his travels around the globe, Barry shows us the forgotten way of kindness. It is a life that calls us to put ourselves at risk. A life that calls us to hope. A life of a firm center and soft edges. It is the life Christ invites us to follow, no matter what the cost.

Faculty and Student Mentors

The men, women and students below serve as Faculty and Student Mentors (sometimes called "break out group leaders") for Freshman Foundations (FYE 1010).

As a freshman, you will meet with your breakout group one or two times a week. Assisting each Faculty Mentor is an upperclass student called a Student Mentor. Together, it is their desire to assist you in any way possible as you transition to college life and begin to feel at home at Grace. Feel free to contact these mentors with any questions you may have—or just to introduce yourself and begin getting to know them.